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1900s[]

1905[]

Russo-Japanese War
RUSSOJAPANESEWARIMAGE
Date July 28, 1904 – March 28, 1905
(1 year, 1 month, 2 weeks and 6 days)
Location East Asia
Result Russian victory, Treaty of Port Arthur
Belligerents
Flag of Russia Russia

Flag of the German Empire Germany
Flag of the Kingdom of Montenegro Montenegro
Flag of France France

Flag of Japan Japan

Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain

Strength
Flag of Russia 1,000,000 Flag of Japan 850,000
Casualties and losses
Military dead: 18,000
Military wounded: 54,000
Military missing: 3,000
Total: 75,000 KIA, WIA or MIA
Military dead: 25,000
Military wounded: 68,000
Military missing: 7,000
Total: 100,000 KIA, WIA or MIA
  • 3 January 1905 — Tsar Nicholas II sacks Alexei Kuropatkin as the commander of the forces fighting against Japan in the Russo-Japanese War, deeming him to be incompetent and blaming him for the loss of Port Arthur. He replaced the sacked commander with Aleksei Brusilov, who was promoted from Lieutenant General to General of the Infantry.
  • 11—12 January 1905 — After arriving in Manchuria and inspecting his forces, Aleksei Brusilov beings planning an offensive with other commanders against the Japanese. Meanwhile, in Moscow, Sergei Witte devises a new economic plan to stimulate industrialization, but keep some elements of agrarian society.
  • 14—15 January 1905 — The Second and Third armies advance to Sandepu, a town where the Japanese left flank is located. The Japanese army is taken by surprise and pushed back a total of eight km, with some 70,000 casualties.
  • 16—19 January 1905 — With the Japanese retreating from the Battle of Sandepu, the rest of the Russian forces advance on all fronts in a general offensive. The Japanese are caught off guard, preparing for their own counterattack, and are pushed back. In what became known as the January Offensive, General Brusilov is regarded as a war hero for his successful plan. The Japanese took some 110,000 casualties overall, with some 85,000 Russian casualties.
  • 20 January 1905 — The offensive is highly propagandized and Russian morale soars with the success in the east. The Japanese plan a counteroffensive while Brusilov aims at liberating Port Arthur.
  • 22 January 1905 — With the march of protestors to his palace, Tsar Nicholas orders his troops not to fire on the protestors but instead gives them a brief speech himself, and then takes the petition they came there to bring to him, promising he would take a look at it. The protest then disperses shortly afterward. The number of attendees to the march was low due to the recent Russian victory in Manchuria.
  • 25—26 January 1905 — The Japanese army is beaten back as they attempt an offensive against Russian lines. They initially made some gains, but the Russian defenders repulsed their attack and forced them to retreat, giving the Japanese some further 30,000 casualties. The offensives capability of the Japanese army was crippled.
  • 28 January 1905 — Russian forces were in almost full control of Manchuria, and Brusilov debated with Nicholas whether or not to invade Korea. The Russian Army prepared to march on Port Arthur, guarded by some 40,000 Japanese troops.
  • 1 February 1905 — A siege begins at Port Arthur. The Japanese Army regroups in northern Korea and prepares to defend the peninsula if an offensive is attempted. The leadership of Japan debates on what to do at Port Arthur.
  • 4 February 1905 — The troops near Port Arthur take time to rest rather than storm the city, expecting the Japanese to surrender. Meanwhile, the success of Russian forces is still propagandized by the Russian government. Germany and France congratulate Russia on its triumphs, while the government of Great Britain is disappointed.
  • 7 February 1905 — An ultimatum is given to the defenders of Port Arthur by General Brusilov: surrender or be attacked in the next 48 hours. The Japanese General Staff give the order for the troops at Port Arthur to hold out while the Japanese Navy puts ships together for evacuating soldiers.
  • 9—12 February 1905 — The Russian attack begins due to no response from the Japanese garrison. The 40,000 Japanese troops position themselves throughout the city, as the Russian Army begins its attack with an artillery bombardment, before Russian soldiers begin to move into the city. Intense close quarters combat ensues.
  • 13 February 1905 — Half of Port Arthur is under Russian control, with some 8,000 Japanese troops killed and 2,000 evacuated by the Japanese Navy. The remaining 10,000 begin to surrender in small groups to the advancing Russians. Though heavy resistance continues in some sectors.
  • 15—17 February 1905 — British advisors help Japanese forces in Korea plan for a new offensive campaign against the Russians in Manchuria. Meanwhile at Port Arthur, 11,000 Japanese troops are killed or commit suicide, while 3000 are evacuated in total, and 5000 are taken prisoner. The victory at Port Arthur is celebrated by Russia and propagandized, further limiting the support of the Bolsheviks and other revolutionary movements.
  • 19 February 1905 — The Russian Army is reinforced, with its total troop count in Manchuria reaching 800,000. General Brusilov is promoted to the rank of General Field Marshal for his successes in the war, and is a hero in the eyes of the Russian public.
  • 23 February 1905 — A group of Serbian and Montenegrin volunteers—numbering some 15,000—arrives in Manchuria.
  • 28 February 1905 — The Japanese and their British and other European advisors finalize plans for a renewed offensive.
  • 3 March 1905 — Brusilov was expecting a Japanese attack and prepared a plan to repulse it. The Russian government, meanwhile, plans on negotiating an end to the war with Japan, planning on having Japan accepting the fact that all of Manchuria is to be considered in the Russian sphere of influence. Nicholas plans to wait until their attempted offensive is stopped, to have an even bigger advantage.
  • 5—11 March 1905 — The Japanese general staff orders the Navy to begin bombarding Port Arthur as the offensive begins. About 310,000 Japanese troops begin an attack against the Russian lines, and are pushed back without gaining much ground. Entrenched Russian soldiers give the Japanese heavy casualties.
  • 12 March 1905 — After days of fighting, the Japanese made almost no territorial gains and took a total of 147,000 casualties, while the Russians took around 100,000. The Japanese government decides to pursue a peaceful resolution, much to the dismay of the more militaristic members of the general staff.
  • 16—21 March 1905 — All military actions (such as minor skirmishes) cease, as Marshals Brusilov and Oyama agree to a ceasefire, as instructed by their governments. Negotiations begin. Though minor border skirmishes continue to occur on occasion.
  • 28 March 1905 — A treaty is signed, mediated by the United States and Germany, with mostly pro-Russian terms, known as the Treaty of Port Arthur. The Japanese agree to relinquish any claims to Manchuria and leave the northern half of Korea, making it as a buffer zone, while continuing to have the southern half of the peninsula as their sphere of influence. Japan agrees to pay war reparations and recognizes Manchuria as the Russian sphere of influence.
  • 1—5 April 1905 — In Russia, large celebrations take place with the recent victory over Japan, which is highly propagandized by the government. Russian forces lower troop count in Manchuria to 250,000. Revolutionary groups in Russia lose popularity while the Tsar and his government gains it.
  • 7 April 1905 — The Qing government of China demands that the Russian forces withdraw from Manchuria, but their demands are ignored.
  • 9—14 August 1905 — With the recent victory of Russia over Japan and the successful beginning of Sergei Witte's economic policies, discontent with the Russian Imperial Government lowers overall. Less protests and strikes occur, and many revolutionary leaders are arrested and executed by order of Nicholas. However, to further improve his image, the Tsar creates a new constitution, agreeing to form a State Duma—parliament and creates the office of Prime Minister. Political parties are formed (with the Tsar's approval), with the largest being the conservative Party of National Unity.
  • 25 September 1905 — The State Duma meets for the first time and establishes a number of new, though minor, laws. They agree with th Tsar's selection of Sergei Witte as the Prime Minister.
  • 5 September 1905 — General Field Marshal Brusilov reorganizes Russian Army forces into military districts, with a total of nine districts: Central Military District (Moscow and surrounding oblasts of central Russia), Western Military District (Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus), Baltic Military District (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), Southern Military District (southern regions of Russia, along with Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan), Finnish Military District (Grand Duchy of Finland), Turkestan Military District (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan), Siberian Military District (most of Siberia), Near Eastern Military District (Vladivostok and northward provinces, along with de facto Manchuria), and Far Eastern Military District (Kamchatka Peninsula and far northeastern regions like Chukotka).
  • 16—27 November 1905 — The police, gendarmerie, and Okhrana (the Tsar's security service) are downsized in personnel, with many either getting different jobs or joining the Russian armed forces. This also improves the Imperial Government's view in the eyes of the people.
  • 4 December 1905 — It is recorded that the economic growth of Russia for the second half of 1905 improves by 1.2%.

1906[]

  • 6—9 January 1906 — With the new year beginning, General Field Marshal Brusilov (the commander-in-chief of the Russian Army) begins reforming the military and initiates a new training program to the troops. The aim is to create a more professional fighting force.
  • 11 January 1906 — As his reforms are in progress, Brusilov ask Sergei Witte to introduce a bill in the State Duma requiring mandatory service in the Army for all Russian men (with some exceptions) between the ages of 18—28 for one year. Witte agrees, after some reluctance.
  • 17 January 1906 — The bill is accepted by the State Duma and passed into law, that all males must preform military service. The maximum time is lowered from one year to ten months. Brusilov hopes to train much of the Russian population into soldiers to have an experienced pool of conscripts to draw from if a new war begins. The reforms in the military continue.
  • 2 February 1906 — The program of reform in the Russian Army goes well so far, and Nicholas is pleased with Brusilov's plans. The Tsar removes bans on other languages in certain regions (like Polish in Poland), allowing them to be taught in schools there, along with Russian. This is to improve the ethnic minorities' image of the Imperial Government, and it works somewhat over time.
  • 6 February 1906 — Economic policies are successful and it is estimated that the Russian economy will see a 2% growth in the first half of 1906, and maybe even 4% by the end of the year. Industrialization is proceeding as well, with more factories being built.
  • 9—13 February 1906 — A naval arms race begins between Britain and Germany.
  • 7 April 1906 — Mount Vesuvius erupts in Italy.
  • 16 April 1906 — The Russian Navy begins constructing a number of new battleships and cruisers to replace those lost in 1904 during the war against Japan.
  • 23 April 1906 — Sergei Witte steps down as Prime Minister due to health issues, and is replaced by conservative leader Ivan Goremykin. The new Prime Minister announces that he modified Witte's original economic plan to create a larger landowner class.
  • 3 May 1906 — The Russian Army begins training its first batch of called up conscripts. The total number of experienced, professional troops is around 500,000 (most of them Russo-Japanese War veterans) and they take part in training the new conscripts. The total number that show up are 700,000. The generally low number was purposely kept by the Russian General Staff as they planned to call up sections at a time, every ten months. The old conscripts (who did not wish to continue service) would then be dismissed to go back home while new conscripts would take their place. Brusilov hoped to create a highly professional army as well as well trained conscripts for potential conflicts.
  • 13 May 1906 — Similar measures were enacted for the Russian Navy by the admiralty, with the number of conscripts going to the fleet around 15,000. Construction continues on the new warships. The construction of the ships and creation of new uniforms and weapons helps stimulate the economy. The Admiralty also plans to modernize all current ships by 1912.
  • 1 October 1906 — The Grand Duchy of Finland (part of the Russan Empire) adopts new laws, with permission from the Tsar.

1907[]

  • 12 June 1907 — Tsar Nicholas II decides to improve relations with Germany and Austria-Hungary, which already were better due to German support for Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. The Germans were also afraid of the modernizing and improving Russian Army, and did not want to face in the event of a war. Negotiations began in Vienna, Austria.
  • 17 June 1907 — Germany and Russia agreed to increase trade and cooperation in different spheres. The foreign minister of Germany, during the meeting, said "Bismarck would be pleased."
  • 19 June 1907 — Austro-Hungarian relations with Russia are improved to some extent, with Russia signing trade agreements with the Hapsburg government.

1908[]

1909[]

1910s[]

1910[]

1912[]

1913[]

1914[]

World War I
WW1 TitlePicture For Wikipedia Article
Clockwise from top: Trenches on the Western Front; a British Mark IV Tank crossing a trench; Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the Battle of the Dardanelles; a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks, and German Albatros D.III biplanes.
Date July 28, 1914 – November 3, 1918
(4 years, 3 months and 6 days)
Location Europe, Africa and the Middle East (briefly in China and the Pacific Islands)
Result Central Powers victory, Treaty of Paris
Belligerents
Allied (Entente) Powers

Flag of France France
Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain
Flag of the United States United States
Flag of the Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire (1915—18)
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned Italy (1915—18)
Flag of Spain (1785-1873 and 1875-1931) Spain (1915—18)
Flag of Portugal Portugal (1915—18)

Central Powers

Flag of the German Empire Germany
Flag of Austria-Hungary (1869-1918) Austria-Hungary
Flag of Russia Russia
Flag of Serbia (1882-1918) Serbia
Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria
Flag of the Kingdom of Montenegro Montenegro
Flag of Greece (1822-1978) Greece (1915—18)
Flag of Romania Romania (1916—18)

Casualties and losses
Military dead: 5,525,000
Military wounded: 12,831,500
Military missing: 4,121,000
Total: 22,477,500 KIA, WIA or MIA
Military dead: 4,386,000
Military wounded: 8,388,000
Military missing: 3,629,000
Total: 16,403,000 KIA, WIA or MIA

1915[]

1916[]

1917[]

1918[]

1919[]

1920s[]

1920[]

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